Eraser and eraser-holder.



T. ENGSTROM.

ERASER AND ERASER HOLDER. APPLICATION FILED SEPT-6. 191B.

Patented Apr. 22,1919

WITNESSES STATES THOR- ENGSTROM, OF PITTSBURGH; PENNSYLVANIAI ERASER AND ERASER-HOLDER.

neonate.

Specification'of Letters-Patent Patented Apr. 22, 1919.

Application filed September 6, 1918. Serial No. 252,836.

citizen of the United States, residingat Pittsburgh, county of Allegheny, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Erasers and Eraser- Holders, of. which the followingjs aspecification.

The, present invention relates to erasers and eraser holders, and theprincipal object of the inventionis to provide an ever ready device wherein the eraser will always be sharp enough to remove only the line or word intended to be removed.

In carrying out my invention I provide an eraser intheform of a thin strip, of erasing material. I then use the structure of the holder to reinforce the eraser strip very near to its end and farther back also by applying pressure upon all its surfaces. Whenever it i is necessary to feed the eraser a simple pressureupon the parts by the thumb and finger releases the holding pressure and allows the eraser strip tov be fed along by hand. Because the erasing strip is thin, it need not be sharpened as would be the case were a thick eraser used. The'holderiscomposed of a loop of springmetal and is shaped so as toradily fit the hand of the user- Incase it is desired to erase a considerable area the eraser can be movedside-wise over the matter to be erased as it has a considerable width. The construction of the-holder is such that it may be readily held. whether operated to re movea singleline or to erase a considerable area. In one case tllGSldBS of the strlp may.

be readily gripped between the thumb. and

, tures of the invention. will be more fully understood -uponreferring to the following detailed descriptiontakenin connection wlth the-accompanying; drawing and the scope of the invention; will; bepointed out in the appended claims.

Referring tothe drawings, Figure 1 1s a perspective view of; an eraser and itsholder constructed. in accordance with the present invention, showing the same held in the hand for the purpose of erasing a word or line of-inappreciable width;- Fig. 2 is a similar, view illustrating the same parts when held in a position: to erase an area of considerable width; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same eraser and: holder; Fig. 4: is a section-elevation of one-half of: the holder, the

section being a central onetakenon-a plane lndioated by lineH of Fig. 3;Fig. 5. is a side elevationof the eraser and holder; Fig. 6 isatransverse-section taken on aplane indicated by line 66 of Fig.3; Fig.7 isa similar section taken on a plane indioated'b-y line 77 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 8 is asec'tion.

similar to Fig. 6 but-showing parts of the holder Without the eraser. Throughout these views like charactersrefer to like parts.

An inspection of." the drawing will show that theeraserlO is heldby the holder 11 The latterconsistsof a stripof spring metal formed into a loop; having its lower ends 12 and 13 curved so asto provide two opposit'ely disposed parallel engaging faces. These. faces are roughened by milling or otherwise, as indicated at 13'. ing faces are spring: pressed. toward each other by the resiliency of the-metal.- composmg the loop. When the'eraserstripis removed, these oppositely disposed faces are pressed intoengagement with each: other as clearly illustrated in Fig. 8. When the eraser strip is in position then they engage its sides as clearly illustrated in: Fig, 6. Besides havmg its sides, engaged, the'erasertension of the end l2, a-ndrwing 15 being The formed as the extension. or end 13: pressure which isappliedto theedges of the strip 10 by thewingsl t and 15 is--given,,as a. result of a bias inathegtension of theloop 11 which tendstoforce the wingszll-and 15 toward each other. Thus-it will be seen in Fig. 8 that the wing 1&- abuts againstthe edge ofthe end 12. Ontheother hand, when the erasing. strip 10 is inposition, as illus+ trated in Fig. 6, the-wing 14. presses against.

theedge of. thestrip 10butdoes not engage theedge of end 12,. By this structure it will be seen that pressure istexertedonall faces of the-strip. In all-instances thepressure is toward the center of the cross-section, of the eraser strip. Asclearly shown, the eraser strip 10 is then and; thus provides a. sharp.

erasing edgewhich does not require sharpening. In order to support thestrip near its erasing edge, the ends 12 and13 are shaped to fit snugly against the sidesof. the eraser strip, especially at their, lower extremities. They arealso rounded oli'asindicated at 16. This rounding of the extremities of the ends The engage 12 and 13 closely conforlns to the shape of the end of the eraser strip, after being worn a little in service. The rounding prevents the ends 12'and 13 from striking the surface upon which the eraser is being used.

In order to free the eraser from the gripping action .of the engaging faces so that it may be fed forward, I provide the loop 11 with slightly divergent faces 17 and 18 near its edges at a point adjacent to the wings 14 and 15, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 3 and 7. These divergent faces are so positioned that they may be easily engaged by the thumb and finger of the user, and when so engaged, a slight pressure will wedge the ends 12 and 13 apart so as to free the eraser strip 10 and allow it to be fed along as may be required. When erasing, the holder may be held as in Fig. 1 to erase a narrow strip or area, and as viewed in Fig. 2 to erase a Wide strip or area. In the first case, the movement of the strip is in the direction of its width,

while in the latter instance the movement of the strip is at right angles to its width. In the former case the thumb and finger engage the wings 1d and 15, while in the latter case they engage the flat sides of the ends 12 and 13.

From the above description it will be seen that I have provided an eraser, including the eraser strip and holder, which will always be sharp and ready for use and one which will always erase the right amount. The device readily fits the hand and its ends are also rounded so as to prevent interference with the surface 011 which the device is ,being'used, and the cutting of the eraser strip when in use. By reason of the fact that the holder readily fits the hand of the user, the work is done by a motion of the wrist and arm rather than by the motion of the fingers which easily tire. The Wings also facilitate the gripping between thumb and finger and a slight pressure upon the divergent faces enables the eraser strip to be readily fed. The latter strips may be provided in considerable lengths because of the space within the loop in which the strip lies. Obviously, it might be extended throughout the length of the loop and still not interfere in any way with use of the device.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An eraser holder comprising a looped strip of spring metal having its ends terminating in angularly disposed faces for engaging different surfaces of a strip of erasing material and biased to exert pressure on said eraser strip through all of the engaged surfaces.

2. An eraser holder comprising a looped strip of spring metal having its ends positioned so as to engage opposite surfaces of an eraser and wings on said ends positioned so as to engage other surfaces of said eraser,

said looped strip being biased to exert pressure through its ends and wings upon all the surfaces of the eraser engaged thereby.

3. An eraser holder comprising a looped strip of spring metal having its ends terminating in angularly disposed eraser-engaging faces, the faces on each end meeting in lines which extend in substantially the same direction as the plane of the loop formed by the strip, and said strip being biased to exert pressure on the eraser through all of the eraser-engaged faces.

4. An eraser holder comprising a looped strip of spring metal having its ends positioned so as to engage opposite surfaces of an eraser, wings on said ends for engaging other surfacesof the eraser, the eraser-engaging faces of the ends and wings meeting in lines which extend in the direction of the plane of the loop formed by the strip and said looped strip biased to exert pressure on the eraser through all the engaged surfaces.

5. An eraser holder comprising a looped strip of spring metal having its ends terminating in angularly disposed eraser-engaging faces the faces on each end meeting in lines which extend in substantially the same direction as the plane of the loop formed by the strip.

6. A11 eraser holder comprising a looped strip of spring metal having its ends positioned so as to engage opposite surfaces of an eraser, and wings on said ends for engaging other surfaces of said eraser, the eraser-engaging faces on the ends and wings meeting in lines which extend substantially in the direction of the plane of the loop formed by the strip.

7 An eraser holder comprising a looped strip of spring metal having at its ends opposed eraser-engaging faces extending at substantially right angles to the plane of the loop formed by the strip, and wings on said ends having opposed eraser-engaging faces extending in planes substantially parallel to the plane of said loop.

8. An'eraser holder comprising a looped strip of spring metal having at its ends opposed eraser-engaging faces extending at substantially right angles to the plane of the loop formed by the strip, said strip having other faces near said eraser-engaging faces on each side which diverge from each other outwardly whereby a slight pressure exerted by the thumb and finger of the user will Wedge apart said eraser-engaging faces to allow the eraser to be fed along.

9. An eraser holder comprising a plurality of opposed eraser-engaging faces, means for exerting pressure on the eraser through each of said faces, and means including outwardly diverging faces responsive to a pressure between the thumb and finger in the direction of the plane of said eraser-engaging faces to wedge said eraserengaging faces apart and separate them from the eraser to allow the latter to be fed along.

10. The combination with a thin strip of erasing material, of a holding strip of spring metal in the form of a loop having its ends terminating each in a plurality of engaging faces extending in the direction of the erasing strip and operative to engage different faces of said erasing strip, said metal strip being biased to exert pressure upon each of the engaged faces of said erasing strip.

11. The combination with a thin strip of erasing material, of means for reinforcing the same near its end by applying pressure upon all surfaces of said strip, and means responsive to the application of pressure by the thumb and finger to relieve said reinforcing pressure to allow said strip to be fed along.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 3 day of Septemher, A. D. 1918.

THOR ENGSTROM.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

